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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28459140">Ball de Diables</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lacrow/pseuds/Lacrow'>Lacrow</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>SPY x FAMILY (Manga)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Camilla with the assist, Dancing, Devil costumes, F/M, Festival, Fireworks, Happy New Year (kinda), Yor's a sucker for Loid being mysterious</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 23:35:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,203</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28459140</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lacrow/pseuds/Lacrow</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>They march to the beat of drums; men in hoods carrying pitchforks and fire, dancing in darkness for the crowd to enjoy.</p>
<p>Yor watches from the sidelines with her friend Camilla, only to unwittingly catch the attention of one of the devils as he passes by.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Loid Forger | Twilight/Yor Briar Forger | Thorn Princess</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>41</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Ball de Diables</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The sound of drum beats fill the air, signaling their arrival.</p>
<p>The devils file down one after the other, under the cover of darkness and against the red of illuminated pitchforks.</p>
<p>Yor watches with the others, off to the side so as to stay out of their way; the heralds of a celebration none know the origin to, but one which they observe every year all the same. Men dressed up like Satan's spawn, brandishing flames and firecrackers for some long-forgotten reason. It's bizarre and it's fun, and lasts until long after the sun has gone down. Until the drums become silent, and the dancers have taken their final steps.</p>
<p>In this time, in this place, the dancers are free to roam around. Other towns are more traditional, but not here; as the devils approach, they break out of formation. Still to the tune of drumbeats, they scatter. Tridents like flares, they go to the quartered off crowd and wave them around. People <em>ooh</em> and <em>ah</em>, children reach out but are stopped by their mothers, and the devils grin in delight. Regular people by day, the night turns them into monsters hungry for attention. Faces shrouded by horned hoods, they're free to do as they please. They dance. They jump. The twirl their pitchforks. They're merry.</p>
<p>Yor watches the ones entertaining far away. Then all of a sudden, her view's obstructed. The friend she's with tugs on her arm and points, though Yor is already aware; a devil has taken up post right in front of them. A hood covers his face, though his costume seems a size too small for him. He's tall. He looms over them, and Yor holds her breath. His focus isn't on her, not at first. He scans the crowd as he steps in place, drums carrying him the same way he carries the fire on his staff. Then, as he goes down the line, his eyes fall on her. He stops, if only for a moment. He stares, and Yor stares back.</p>
<p>Blue eyes peak out from underneath his hood.</p>
<p>Flare-light bathes his face, and a dark grin spreads across it.</p>
<p>He starts up again, this time focused wholly on her. Yor's eyes grow wide; she stands transfixed on the sight, a devil dancing for her and her alone. The pitchfork twirls in his hands and every few seconds lights up her whole body, a red that glows just bright enough to hide the obvious fluster in her cheeks. Her friend, Camilla, whispers something in her ear but Yor doesn't hear it. She's too overcome by him, by the drumbeat, and for a moment it's just the two of them. The crowd disappears and she finds herself in hell, though it's not nearly as bad as the priest made it sound like in church.</p>
<p>Suddenly the beat changes, and Yor's rapt awake. She blinks, and realizes that the devils are retreating. Her devil, the one with blue eyes, turns to leave without saying goodbye. Not that he said a word to her to begin with. Not that he was even her devil to begin with, but he was. He stands out against the others, a head taller than all of them as he goes back into line. Yor stands still as a statue and watches them file down the road, followed by the drummers and those carrying the main event in their arms; staves with fireworks that spin when lit. The grand finale for the evening.</p>
<p>Eventually Camilla tugs on her again, and she leads them both downhill with the rest of the crowd. The sun is gone. The town has shut down. There are no lights, save for the devils' fire, and the crowd follows their unholy hosts all the way down cobble streets until finally the procession ends at the center square. There, strung on a web of ropes tied to a giant fountain, are chains of firecrackers. They hang down halfway to the ground, and wait for an eager devil to light them and cast the town into flames. The crowd knows what's about to come. They hold their breath, Yor being among them.</p>
<p>The devils wrap around the fountain. A little jig they dance, until the drummers suddenly silence their sticks. At that point, the hooded men drop their tridents at their feet and wait as volunteers come to them with their true prize for the night; the spinning staves. Yor looks around for her devil, but she can't see him. Probably on the other side of the fountain, but there isn't a lot of time to try and find him. It's not long long before the last devil takes up his arms and the volunteers scurry to get out of their way. At that point the drummers start up again, only this time the beat is much more lively than before.</p>
<p>It's erratic, chaotic. There's no rhyme to it, and they're all out of tune. Some play fast, others slow, and yet it still somehow sounds pleasing all the same.</p>
<p>The devils are no different. Once the music starts, they light their staves. Immediately, the square lights up with sparks from dozens of dancers. The crowd cheers as the devils break formation and start to converge at the center; they hold their staves up high and lose themselves in the fire. They take care to not burn each other, and hide beneath their hoods to shield their eyes. Yor and everyone else stay off to the side, though much closer than when they first filed down. Despite all the sparks and flames, rarely does anyone ever get hurting during the event.</p>
<p>The fear of flames is not so easily smothered, however. The devils know this, and some break away to tease the audience. Children who were eager to touch the tridents before suddenly clamor to get away as the spinning staves come near. Devils cackle and run up and down the line, the whistle of their fireworks mixing in with the drums and causing a most intimidating sound. Some people clap, others reprimand the mischievous imps, but all enjoy themselves all the same. Yor smiles as several pass by her and Camilla. The place is loud. The fireworks are pretty. She's content.</p>
<p>Then, before she knows it, he's there again.</p>
<p>A whistle signals his arrival this time. The stave twirls in his hands as the tip of it spins the opposite way, causing a huge umbrella of sparks to curve over him. Some land at Yor's feet, but she's too focused on the man to even realize it. A smirk cuts into her devil's lips and he's staring at her again. Camilla says something in her ear again, only this time she says it loud enough for Yor to actually hear; <em>do you know him? </em>No, she doesn't. She has no idea who this person is...but she wants to. At the very least she wants to know his name, the devil that smiles and dances only for her.</p>
<p>He stays there for a time dancing in place, twirling the fire around him until suddenly he decides to leave. The other devils come to the same conclusion, perhaps all having agreed beforehand to return to the center after a certain amount of time had passed. Just like before, Yor's devil does not say goodbye. He doesn't wave, or anything. He simply turns and leaves without any warning, and Yor finds herself reaching out against her will towards him. Of course she can't make him stay. He owes her nothing, and yet she needs to try anyway.</p>
<p>It is, of course, in vain. He converges on the fountain with the others, and it soon becomes apparent why. At some point, a devil had lit the cord connecting all the chains of firecrackers. As the men all gather, the night sky above soon erupts in tiny booms. The air crackles and whistles, and the drums grow louder. The devils spin their staves faster, and the whole of them swell together and shake. Soon the square turns into a single mass of bright light, and the crowd cheers as they're overwhelmed by lights, music, and explosions.</p>
<p>Everyone claps. It's impossible to tell who's who in the chaos, but Yor tries to anyway. She searches for her devil in the sea of red and white, keeping in mind he's taller than all the others around him. She can't see, though; they all duck and weave, dodging fire and moving their feet to the sound of hellish music and applause. It's overwhelming, and after a minute of searching she relents. Yor exhales and simply lets the night take control. The crowd is frantic. Camilla shouts for her to enjoy herself, and eventually she obeys. Both women smile, and start to bob to the music as well.</p>
<p>The firecrackers burn. The staves continue popping. The devils dance with nary a pause, and everything starts to blur together. Time doesn't mean much, and few can recall when the festival even started. The moon creeps across the sky, called ever forward by the fountain of fire in the center of town. Water stopped running from it long ago, turned off for the sake of letting sparks roll down its sides. It is the focal point of everything, and the devils begin to dance around it. A few break off from the others and start the parade, and the others quickly follow suit.</p>
<p>They snake around it. Haphazardly at first, though soon they follow into what resembles several circles. They all go in one direction in the beginning, and the drummers try to accommodate them. They fall into a more even beat, though it's too tame for their tastes. The circles start to alternate directions however, and that's when things truly start to click. The drums become faster. The devils start to shout. The fire in their hands scrape against the ones falling on them from above, and the crowd loses it. Yor and Camilla shout with the others as the dancing is replaced with running.</p>
<p>It's wild. It's chaos. For as long as the fireworks burn, the devils cavort.</p>
<p>The energy doesn't wane, at least not while there's still sparks to be seen.</p>
<p>At a certain point, however, it finally starts to happen. The first of the staves begin to dim, and their sparks cease. One by one, the devils throw their last hurrah as the light that fueled their frolic starts to die. Those whose staves have burned out toss them aside and reach for their discarded pitchforks, the flares attached to them still very much alive. It isn't long before the last of the staves die, along with the chains of firecrackers above. The square is plunged into darkness, save for the light of red pitchforks and the moon high above as it drowns the crowd in dull silver.</p>
<p>The crowd erupts in applause. Though none can see their faces, the devils revel in their appreciation. Pitchforks bop in the night as they take their bow, and Yor beams at the display. She and Camillia exchange glances as they clap, both thinking the same thing; <em>where is he? </em>Neither know the answer, nor do they ask it aloud. They're not given the chance to, not before a red light floats over towards them in the dark. From the corner of her eye, Yor notices him. A face she's only seen twice before, but of which is ingrained in her mind at this point; her devil, come to see her once more.</p>
<p>Others go up to the crowd as well. Some see their families, others lovers and friends, but he specifically chose her. Yor freezes in his presence as he nears, far closer than before. He doesn't have any obligations now, the festival is over. The bright red makes it hard to see fine details, but she can see that his hood is off now. Messy blonde hair tops his head, and his blue eyes shine through even scarlet. Again, he's tall, taller than she and Camilla, and Yor tilts her head up to meet his stare. She doesn't know what to do or say. She's entranced.</p>
<p>Then, a push from behind. Yor's eyes boggle as Camilla nudges her forward. She throws her head back to gape at her friend, but the woman is already stepping backwards. Before Yor can say anything, a hand comes out to catch her. She spins back around and finds herself in her devil's arms, and her lips part in a quiet gasp as he smiles down at her. His pitchfork falls to the floor as he frees his other hand to hold her, and the two of them stand there for a moment bathed quietly in hellfire. Again, she's thankful for the fact that her fluster is covered, though Yor suspects he can tell just the same.</p>
<p>For the moment she's content to just stand there in the devil's arms. Eventually his smile spreads to her, and finally she swoons.</p>
<p>He starts to introduce himself. His deep timber rumbles in her ears, and all Yor can think about is just how appealing eternal damnation would be if it meant spending it with him.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Happy New Year! I based this off Ball de Diables, an actual event celebrated in Europe though I took some artistic liberties with it (I saw something on tumblr and had to write something for it). Also it's not really New Year's related, although it has fireworks in it so good enough for me! Hope you all have a wonderful new year!!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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